I was thrilled to meet up with Gašper Beguš in La Jolla today. We first connected a while ago when I was studying crow language and culture and he was deciphering the mysteries of whale communication. His stunning research is featured on the front page of The Guardian . We talked about Gašper's study of dead languages and what reconstructing the sound can tell us about humanity. This curiosity led to his work with animal communication. We talked about intelligence and cogn

Color Mindset reframes transformation as an integrative shift in cognitive range and behavioral capability. It moves the focus from what we produce to how we see, decide, and act under pressure.

In many mature organizations, there is a moment that feels strangely familiar. The dashboard is green. The audit is closed. Risks are within tolerance. Milestones are on track. By every formal indicator, the system is performing. And yet the room is quiet in a way that suggests something isn’t right. Operational leaders speak carefully but not expansively. Small tensions surface and are translated back into policy language. A workaround is mentioned, then reframed as acceptab

Color Mindset is a new way of thinking, leading and acting. Power Pairs is a practical tool that brings Color Mindset to life. The first step is to identify the color of your anchor , which represents your natural behavioral default. The seven anchors all have benefits and limitations. The key is to pair your anchor with a spotlight and expand your responsiveness more than you ever thought possible.

I conducted a Leadership and Ethics workshop at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, applying Color Mindset to a real historical example, the Cuban Missile Crisis. In under an hour, we simulated color-coded responses to the real existential threat that spanned thirteen days in 1962. Our goal for the exercise was to simulate avoiding nuclear war by making a recommendation from the perspective of each of the seven colors’ natural behavioral defaults. For example, g

Every thinking framework gets you part of the way. But the problems themselves keep evolving. Black-and-white thinking offers clarity. Growth mindset encourages openness and comfort with nuance. Both are valuable. Yet neither tells you how to think in the moment when a real decision sits in front of you and the path forward isn’t obvious. That’s the gap Color Mindset was designed to fill. Color Mindset is a framework for expanding cognitive range. It helps individuals and tea